Mistress in the Maldives
I was a personal concierge at one of the Maldives’ top resorts for elite guests. Here, the ultra-rich and famous used to come for their holidays. Some came in private jets and one family kept their super yacht parked year-round so they could use the vessel for their annual visit. My most ridiculous story is the one that stands out.
One day I was told that I would be taking care of Mr. Sergei Popov. He is on Forbes’ list of rich people and lives in Switzerland, with his family. The arrival list stated that he was coming with a woman whose name did not match his wife’s. He arrived by private jet in Male, the capital of Maldives. There are many ways to reach the resort from there…
The plebs can take a speedboat for 45 minutes, the slightly richer people can transfer by yacht for 40 minutes, and the rest of us will have to wait 12 mins for a seaplane. Popov chose the seaplane. Let’s start with a little background: I was hired because I can speak four different languages (Russian and English as well as Thai, Mandarin, and Mandarin). I’m at the seaplane dock waiting for him to come for the meet-and-greet.
The seaplane lands and they exit. I greet them in Russian. They reply in English. Great. Keep your distance from us. We get in the golf buggy, and I show them around the island before taking them to their villa. They’re not happy with the villa even though it is in the second most luxurious category. I then take them to the one presidential villa that is available. They enjoy it.
Upgrades are available for an additional $12,000 per night. The total cost is now $27,000 per night. The villa is 10,000 square feet with many bells and whistles. It has a mobile phone that can be used to contact me directly 24/7, until the guests depart. The requests are now coming in. It’s his mistresses 33rd Birthday and he wants to surprise her.
Done. He wants to reserve a bar seat every night, even though the bar does not save seats. Done. He needs me to pick up his niece tomorrow from the airport and drive her to a private villa. As soon as I saw her I knew what was happening. She gets out of the seaplane wearing a full-length Mink coat, even though it is 100+ degrees outside. She only has a purse with her and no other luggage.
This is not a “niece”. His “niece”, however, wants to immediately go to the boutique and buy new clothes. She buys a lot of bikinis, and other clothing that is more suitable for a tropical paradise. When I leave her in the villa, her “uncle” is nowhere to be found. When I look at her passport, I see that she only turned 18 eight days ago.
Nice uncle I think. I get her a Maldives trip (just kidding; I was already suspicious). The next morning, during breakfast, I am called to the villa by housekeeping. When I entered, I almost gasped. The master bedroom looks like a mess. The sheets had to be thrown out because they were so filthy. Rubbers and bottles could be found everywhere.
Popov informs me, however, that his niece has left them. This bimbo was starting to grow on me. The mistress’s birthday is approaching. I have organized a barbecue for a few people in a pavilion that overlooks the Indian Ocean. It was specially built to host events of this kind. I ordered 100 pounds worth of rose petals in Sri Lanka.
They don’t grow there, so I used them as a way to cover the sand that led up to the pavilion. The water was suspended with transparent globes that looked like fishbowls. Hundreds of floating candles were on display. Tchaikovsky played. Decanting a bottle of grand cru (I forget which one, probably Rothschild) I forgot the name. Personal chefs, personal waiters, and waitresses were ready.
I was standing by. After the dinner I went to see what happened. He thanked everybody “from the bottom of his heart”. We thanked him $14,000 for the dinner. Everyone is happy. They speak to me the next day in Russian as if I were an old friend. He gives me a detailed plan of his departure and hands me a $2,000 envelope, my tip for the seven-day stay.
Total cost for the 7 days: $230,000
